


Long is the Night and Many are the Terrors

by lover_of_blue_roses



Series: Maycury 2020 [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Nightmares, betrothal, watching the stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26262601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lover_of_blue_roses/pseuds/lover_of_blue_roses
Summary: Freddie can't sleep, and while normally he would just toss and turn restlessly, now he has a betrothed.
Relationships: Brian May/Freddie Mercury
Series: Maycury 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904278
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16
Collections: Maycury_Week_2020





	Long is the Night and Many are the Terrors

Normally Freddie wouldn't say anything. Normally he'd keep it to himself, bite back the words and let them clog up his throat, but now... Well, now he's betrothed. They'd be married shortly, they had to be, as their flight was at the turn of the moon. And marriage means sharing any burdens to half them if not to help them. He's just- It's just so new. He thumbed at his necklace, at the pendant that dangles from it. Rings for marriage, pendants for engagement. Traditionally they were shaped like inverted teardrops, a triangle with only one point, made of any matte material. Yet his betrothed had gifted him a circular metal one. 

Freddie remembered what his betrothed had said, 'An unbroken circle symbolizing unending love. May it's glow reflect the warmth of our love in this lifelong journey. To be worn as a sign of the commitment we share.' It had assuaged any fears that this bonding would be only political, that's not what Freddie wanted. He wanted to love his life partner. And this- this disc, he can't remember anyone ever being this thoughtful for him. He hadn't wanted to take it off, not even to go to sleep.

Slowly Freddie crept over the carpet to the rooms given to his betrothed. They put him in Freddie's wing, just nearby. There were four guards blocking the door, two from the Summer realm, two from the Spring. As their prince the Summer guards did nothing to stop him but the Spring ones hesitated. What were they concerned that their prince could be deflowered?

He stared them down, he didn't need his crown nor royal garb to command authority and they did let him pass. Through the sitting room Freddie headed to the bedroom, he'd knock but there were no doors. A noise spurred him on, had someone intruded despite the fierce guards? Freddie didn't have a weapon but he was never truly unarmed, his magic easily coming to his fingers. Normally his use of it was obvious, trailing shadows consuming his hands, but it was lost to the darkness of the late hour. 

However when he came upon his sleeping betrothed it was to see that it was a dream that had ensnared him, or rather a nightmare. the prince was thrashing about, whimpering in distress. Freddie didn't know what to do, how best to wake him up. Obviously his betrothed was a powerful mage too or his people wouldn't have made him Prince and wouldn't have agreed to this union, only the strongest were needed for their journey. If Freddie shook his shoulder, he could lash out with his magic before true wakefulness stopped him.

Pausing at the foot of the bed, Freddie felt something tugging at him. He looked up to the bed's canopy, the standard kind that he too had in his room. Ah, with his realization he reached out and touched a bed post. The spell didn't want his magic, their opposite affinities the bases for their betrothal, yet he gave it all the same. The canopy fabric lit up with the starry night sky, the light gradually increasing, until his betrothed slowly awoke squinting up. "Huh?"

"I-" While 'I am sorry' was at the tip of his tongue, it was not true. "You were having a nightmare," Freddie finally decided on. Despite the fact the light of the stars was faint, Freddie could see a face. For the first time. There was no law that they couldn't see each other's faces, not even a tradition, just that they were to be veiled for the betrothal and marriage. It was shallow to think it, especially when they will have to venture and live together all their days where power or personality should be most important, but Freddie was heartened to see he was handsome.

"Oh, I see," but there is a clear look in his betrothed eyes that he remembered the nightmare, and vividly. However rather than share they too were drinking in Freddie's features. 

"I am Freddie," the Prince of Summer finally told him. Names have power, but who was he to trust if not his spouse.

"I am Brian," the Prince of Spring replied smiling, happy to be so trusted. "May I ask- That is to say, what brings you here? Was I so loud as to disturb the guards?" He was hesitant for a Prince, far meeker than how Freddie chose to present himself. But Freddie suspected that as he projects confidence despite his milder nature, Brian is just the opposite, appearing the shrinking violet but having stern nature when needed. 

"No. It's actually because I couldn't sleep." It was hard for Freddie, to bare himself in front of another, he'd almost never done it before. He's heard that it can help though, and he desperately wants that for himself. He's always been somewhat of a hopeless romantic, dreaming of someone to love, and now the universe is giving him one even if it is under such dire circumstances.

"I see," Brian repeated. "Well, you're not alone in this," it was hard to tell under the dim lights but he seemed to blush at his words, "That is to say- I mean of course, you will never be alone again as your spouse I'll be with you always as I have vowed- but I too have found sleep difficult." Freddie was revising his impression, not only was he handsome, he was adorable. Brian patted the bed, "If you'd like."

That was all Freddie had been waiting for, sliding in between the sheets and close to Brian. Not close enough to be touching but nearly. He'd enjoyed cuddling before, even if it had only been with friends, he was all the more eager to do it with he who would be his love. Brian too seemed open to this, scooching the few remaining inches until they were pressed along their sides. 

Freddie didn't say anything, looking up at the marvelous sight of the enchanted night sky, basking in the calm of the late hour when the palace was asleep. The sky wasn't of here, so Freddie suspected it was of the Spring realm, filled with foreign constellations that Freddie could not read. As he was silent, Brian felt he should start, "I fear... seemingly everything, although I swear I am no coward. But I fear this journey will take us far..." He must sound so silly, of course they were going far, they needed to discover unknown lands, and so they must venture where none had gone before. 

"It's not just that we might not find a world so newly born but that in the going we could be..." He tried to find words to describe the terror of his dream. It is rare for anyone outside the Winter realm to be prophetic and yet Brian felt bone gripping horror at the certainty that came with this nightmare. "Lost," he finally settled on, lamely.

Freddie nodded slowly. They very well could, Freddie would not lie to him or dismiss those fears. "At least we will have each other." Brian sighed as he gently presses his head against Freddie. If as little more than strangers they can already find such comfort in each other arms, they can only imagine how it will be as spouses, as lovers. "My fear is less of the destination, but of the journey," Freddie confessed quietly. He almost didn't want to say anything more, give no details that could be used against him, but he must trust if this is to work. As dangerous, and possibly hopeless as this mission will be, their only chance to be successful is if they work together. 

"When I was little," Freddie voice barely rose to a whisper but he couldn't speak of it otherwise, "My parents sought to keep me safe and give me my best chance in life, so they sent me far, far away. I-" Even with how little he has said his voice breaks. "I tried to make new friends there but it wasn't the same. I didn't fit in very well," he pressed down over his lips as though hoping to push his teeth in. "I felt very alone. I felt abandoned." Freddie can't believe he's just said that. He's never voiced that outloud before. And even though he felt he was about about to cry, a sob pressing down his throat, he also felt... free. Lighter, like a weight has been lifted from his chest.

"You'll never be alone again," Brian repeated Freddie sentiment back towards him. "Because at least we'll have each other." 

Freddie could feel the smile taking over his face as he snuggled up closer to the Prince, but dear lord did that man need some serious feeding Freddie could feel his every rib. "Wise words," he joked.

"That's my husband, I'm lucky to have him," but unlike Freddie his tone wasn't joking. He was looking up at him from where his head was resting against Freddie, his hazel eyes looking so green in the dim light. Slowly, ever so slowly least he want to pull away, Freddie leaned down. But Brian didn't pull away, he licked his lips and angled his head upwards. Softly their lips met and Freddie could feel their magic, dark and light, push and pull, black and white. It was not just reassuring that they could do this, that they could accomplish this mission and bring back such good news to their people, it was that he'd be by his side no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts: nightmare, “i can’t sleep.” princes of the universe
> 
> and a tiny bit of this, because soft comfort:   
> for their very first tour abroad, freddie finds himself on a plane for the first time in years, only he’d forgotten just how much he hated them. he can feel himself starting to have a panic attack but thankfully brian’s there with him and calms him down through the flight.


End file.
